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Undead
The Undead 'are those who died and were brought back by some form of magic. While they may be lacking in appearance, they make it up for their raw physical strength.For some reason, they are unloved by a lot of other species, despite being neutral as a whole. 'Undead The Undead in Halloween comprise of any being that is technically not alive, yet not truly dead. They are capable of thought, motion, speech, and all those other lovely things without any of that pesky breathing or heart-beating to get in the way. Like Ghosts, the Undead may be former humans who died - and, like Ghosts, the moment of death erases all memories of their former lives. The only thing a newly-dead Undead has left is their name and personality. Please note that in the following guide, "humans" is used to represent the person an Undead may have been in their previous life. It is possible to have an Undead animal as long as they fit the criteria to make an undead. In addition, it is also possible to have an Undead Monster/Demon/Reaper as long as they have died in the Human World. Appearance Undead have a wide range of appearances - since, in theory, anything that can die has the potential to be undead. In addition to the 'classic' undead (like zombies, vampires, patchworks, and so on), Undead Reapers, Demons, and Monsters may also exist. If an Undead was 'born' through death, they will resemble their former self, give or take a few limbs and mutilations depending on how they died. The main "trait" of being undead is... well, Rot. Nearly all undead are in some state of decomposition, one of the few exceptions being the classic (and much envied) vampires. Yet, even capires have corpse-pale flesh and are cold to the touch! This decay is usually inactive, or at least very slow; it's impossible for an undead to decay into nothing as long as they have enough FEAR to sustain themselves. For example, mummies may be dried out and not rotting any longer because of their state of preservation. Patchworks also tend to be well-preserved, while fastidiously clean plague doctors take good care of their weakened bodies. Skeletons have nothing left to lose! Still, even born-undead often have bodies that are damaged in comparison to other races: lack of musculature, skin, bone showing through in places, missing limbs, or obvious stitches or grafts to cover up said damage. Their skin - if they have any! - usually looks unhealthy, corpse-pale or greening, perhaps blue or black, molding or rotting or bloody. Undead can and do grow... when they choose to. Whereas newly-dead undead may choose to remain in their at-death state, Undead that are born and raised in Halloween often choose to grow up right alongside their more "alive" peers. Growth may be done through surgical modification (done by others or self-inflicted) if desired; this method of growth is very common for patchworks, who often attach new and bigger parts to themselves in order to grow! Memory At the moment of death, newly-Undead lose their memories of their former lives. They cannot recall what the human world was like (if they were from there), any exact moments in their past history, or the names or faces of people they once knew. They are a blank slate, equipped only with the knowledge of the basics and what their name is. In a way, newly-undead have a sort of "detached" memory if you will. They know what things are and how to use them providing they have had experience with them in their past life (ie, a former chef would still know how to cook). They would even have strong feelings attached to the knowledge, however they do NOT know the specifics. For example, a newly-Undead who was a former chef would know that someone was a fan of their pancakes, but they would NOT know if it was a former lover, child, family member, or tough-to-sell food critic. They would just know that someone enjoyed them to the point that they'd always smile, for example. However, when it comes to emotions newly-Undead can only remember STRONG emotions. A chef-Undead for example would not remember working in a restaurant. If, however, the restaurant was their own, the thought of working in and managing their own might fill them with a warm, fuzzy nostalgia. A chef-Undead who worked in a cafeteria on the other hand might recoil in horror at the thought of being asked to cook for a large number of guests if their experience in working in a school cafeteria was horrifying enough with the screechy little buggers. Of course if an Undead is born in Halloween, then they suffer no memory loss. They merely grow up just like any other kid born and raised in Halloween! Culture As a faction, the Undead do not have a unified, overarching culture: the closest thing they have is a very definite social hierarchy. In general, the more decayed you are - and the more you flaunt it - the less socially acceptable you are. Vampires form the highest social strata; shambling zombies make up the lowest. Undead may be unkindly stereotyped as slow, stupid creatures that can be easily manipulated or used as tools. This is not always true, of course, but the stigma is definitely there. Born-Undead may consider themselves of a higher class than newly-undead. Vampires are social climbers with healthy ambitions; they generally try to distance themselves from 'undead stigma' as much as they possibly can, choosing to emulate classier demons instead. Patchworks and some varieties of zombie are often created in laboratories by science-wielding Masters; these can be excellent minions. Mummies are often solitary creatures. Other zombies may choose to live and hunt in shambling packs. Plague doctors live in close-knit family Houses that can be extremely insular. How an undead lives really depends more on their specific species/type than the fact that they are undead. One thing all Undead can agree on, however, is that they have the singular honor of producing the most legendary Pumpkin King in Halloween Town history. The great Pumpkin King Jack Skellington was Undead, after all! All Undead hold his memory in great esteem, and enthusiastically join in any celebration that honors him. The other thing all Undead agree on is that fire sucks. All Undead are more flammable than their living counterparts, and they all have a powerful instinctive fear of fire. In Halloween Undead fill in many different roles in Halloween: *'Servants/Minions:' Many Undead, especially the created type, make excellent servants and loyal minions to their creators, and to anyone else they end up being bound to. *'Advancing Hordes:' The shambling zombie apocalypse is a classic for a reason. Undead are remarkably resilient in a fight (except when it comes to fire) and can take a lot of damage before dropping - and even then you might have a few disembodied arms grabbing your ankles. Or flipping you off. *'Mad Scientists:' Many of the smarter Undead have a fondness for science; those who were created often emulate their creators. It's easy to run tests and concoct great experiments when you can just sew yourself back together after the inevitable explosion. *'Continuality': Should a newly-Undead choose to, they can continue the career they had in their previous life. Granted figuring out what that was may take some time and experimentation, and even relearning the skills to do what you previously did may take some time, but hey. At least you know that you enjoyed it. Or hated it. These are only a few of the jobs members of the Undead race perform in Halloween. There are many jobs and careers available to any aspiring Undead! In The Human World The Human World, for all its delicious Fear-creation, is a dangerous place. More than one Halloween citizen found themselves on the wrong end of humanity, tasting fear themselves as their prey suddenly became the predator. But as a citizen of Halloween, they have nothing to worry about. If they die, they just dissipate and reappear in Halloween right as rain... right? Wrong. Every time a Halloween citizen dissipates, there is a small chance for something to go horribly wrong. It is this small chance of corruption in someone’s natural Fear that can lead to the rise of another Undead citizen in Halloween. When this happens, the newly Undead loses all memory and skills of their previous life. They must start life again as a Year One, should they re-enroll. And what choice do they have, really? And of course, that all depends on whether or not Amityville will accept them again after failing so hard.. In order to generate Fear for Halloween, Undead that visit the Human World tend to travel in groups, sometimes under the command of a leader or master. They often lurk around graveyards, hospitals, or medical facilities (especially morgues), ready to threaten the unwary with potential violence. A common tactic is burying themselves in the ground and then 'rising from the grave' in front of a hapless human. Mummies often haunt their own former tombs, or are drawn to mysterious museums that now house their burial relics; Egyptology departments in human universities provide surprisingly fertile territory. As for vampires, they tend to work alone, attracting a single target for a delicate dance of seduction. Strengths and Weaknesses Strengths All Undead are startlingly resilient, even though they might look like they're ready to fall apart. The Undead don't need pesky things like air or blood circulation or sleep or even a complete skeletal system to keep on going, and they have a surprisingly high resistance to pain. Their endurance and fortitude surpasses that of any other faction. Ready to fall apart, you say? No problem! If they do fall apart, many types of undead can simply put themselves back together. Skeletons and skeletal creatures are best at this; even fleshy undead can put themselves back in working order with a simple needle and thread. However, some undead (like Vampires) look down on this practice and prefer to straight up dissipate and have their limbs automatically replaced. Note that this ability involves replacement of an undead's own body parts only: if your arm falls off, you can put it back on without too much trauma. You cannot replace it with a random arm you found lying on the side of the road unless your species' natural ability (i.e. the Patchworks' Interchangeable Parts) permits you to! Weaknesses All Undead have an instinctive fear of fire - sensible, given that they are highly flammable and burn much easier than other races. And it's not so easy to fix that kind of damage! A candle or burner may make an Undead nervous; an inferno may well prompt utter mindless fear that shortcuts all logical responses. Fire bad. Major Sub-Classes Vampires Vampires are all about politics and climbing the social ladder. They will step on anyone they can to get ahead. After all, they're the smartest, prettiest, and most deserving (and obviously the most vain). Their moods range from callous and cold to full of lust and desire; this often depends on how seasoned the vampire is. Most vampires wouldn't be caught... er, dead... with 'lesser' Undead. Patchworks Patchworks are a strange lot. While the other Undead all were born (or died) at some point, patchworks were created from a mishmash of disparate Parts. Most patchworks have a powerful sense of Duty and Purpose instilled in them by their creators; they often take on a servant or minion role. They live in a strict framework determined by Master's Orders, and any challenge to this framework can be highly confusing and lead to existential angst. Mummies Mummies are an angry group. You'd be angry too if you had been imprisoned for thousands of years in a small box! Thankfully though, mummies tend to block that period of time from their mind, and are able to function in society fairly well when they have to. Often coming from long-gone civilizations, mummies feel a bit out of place in the modern day. They were once someone important, but now they're not, and even mummy pride and haughtiness can't make that pretty golden burial crown mean something. Still, they do have an affinity for curse/hex magic, which is more than most Undead! Zombies What can be said about zombies? They look and smell horrible (rotting flesh is never en vogue). Their appearance ranges from a tolerable amount of decay to almost skeletal. Zombies are often just assumed to be slow and stupid; while this isn't always the case, even the smartest zombie still has to deal with the stereotypical view. Many zombies are social outcasts, at least to those who aren't also zombies (or at least Undead). Skeletons Skeletons are absolutely not zombies who lost all their flesh, thank you very much! Also, the great Jack Skellington was a skeleton, and you'd better remember that. Skeletons often have a giant chip on their shoulders regarding both of these things. They have history, damnit, a great and storied history! And they will tell you about it! At length! With many embellishments! See Also List of Current Undead Category:Terms Category:Factions Category:Guides